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Monkey genome springs surprise for human origins

WHAT makes us human? We are closer to an answer – at least as far as our genes are concerned – with the sequencing of the genome of the rhesus macaque. Joining humans and chimpanzees, this monkey is the third primate to have its genome fully sequenced.

Of the macaque’s nearly 3 billion DNA base pairs, 93.5 per cent are identical to those in the human genome. This is not unexpected for a species whose lineage diverged from our own about 25 million years ago. The human and chimp genomes, which diverged just 6 million years ago, are about 98 per cent identical. …